Southern California -- this just in

Election Day: Voter turnout down in L.A., Orange counties

June 6, 2012 | 4:25
pm

With the Republican presidential primary all but decided and only two ballot initiatives for voters to ponder, turnout was down in Los Angeles and Orange counties for Tuesday’s 2012 primary, according to representatives from registrars' offices.

Only 17.2% of voters hit the polls in Los Angeles County, the lowest in at least the last six years, said Talyssa Gonzales, an elections assistant with the L.A. County registrar-recorder/county clerk. The June 2010, 2008 and 2006 primaries saw 23.45%, 20.17% and 27.44% of voters cast a ballot at the polls, respectively. The February 2008 presidential primary saw more than 55% of voters cast ballots, Gonzales said.

Meanwhile the numbers were even lower in Orange County. Neal Kelley, spokesman for the Orange County registrar of voters, called the 8% voter turnout “a little weak.”

“It’s all what is driving people to the ballot,” he said. “The presidential primary was later in the year, the nominees were known, only two propositions were on the ballot, and there wasn’t a contest where people felt like, maybe, it was going to matter.”